You’ll find hundreds of varieties of hostas in cultivation. Picking a select few can be daunting. It is easy to feel that you might overlook some must-have variety.

But now there is a place here in the Lower Mainland where you can go to see a fantastic range of hundreds of top cultivars and get all your questions answered,especially about the most reliable ones for your garden.

Pam Erikson, of Langley, has made a name for herself over the last two decades as B.C.’s leading daylily specialist. She grows thousands of cultivars – at least 3,000 at last count – and she even breeds many of her own introductions.

Her nursery, Erikson Daylily Garden at 24642 – 51 Ave., is well known to most B.C. gardeners. It is always worth a visit in July for the annual open house. This year it will be July 14 and 15, a great time to see all the daylilies at their peak blooming.

But over the past few years, Pam has been diversifying and getting into hostas . . . in a big way.

She now stocks more than 450 different cultivars, including many rare and unusual kinds.

If you are not familiar with hostas, they are dependable, versatile and long lasting – the workhorse plants of the perennial border.

It is no surprise so many gardeners regard them as the perfect perennial. They come in an astonishing diversity of colour and form.

If you are looking to boost your hosta or daylily collection, Pam’s is the place to go.

I should mention that one of my favourites is ‘Sum and Substance”, a fantastic yellowy green that is a monster, spreading at least six feet, if planted the ground. I grow mine in a container, which keeps it in bounds, but it is still enormous.

Another favourite is H. plantaginea because of its lovely pure white flowers, which have a pungent bitter-sweet fragrance.

Called the ‘August lily’, the flowers are held 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 cm) high on sturdy stems. The pure white petals stand out at night like mini-beacons, making this hosta a good choice for a shady corner.

Other quality hostas to check out include ‘Frances Willliams’, ‘Great Expectations’, ‘June’ and ‘Yellow River’, all of which have very striking foliage variations.

At one time, I was madly in love with blue leafed hostas, especially ‘Halcyon’, so I have lots of it around the garden.

‘Halcyon’ is classified as a groundcover-type being low-growing and very manageable. It grows 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm).

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